APRIL 'eyes

April 21, 2004

Hooray. The walleye season opens this Saturday, April 24, and the fishing should be good. The fish should have finished spawning and we should be into the post-spawn bite, often the very best time of the year to catch the marble-eyed fish.

This is the time of the year to fish the lakes that are mostly shallow. Burt Lake, Black Lake, Crooked Lake and Pickerel Lake should all be good. Lake Charlevoix, on the other hand, may not be so good. The shallow lakes warm first and the shallow portions of the deeper lakes warm early as well. It is conceivable, however, that the deeper lakes may have a greater concentration of walleyes in their limited shallows, for a short time.

One of the great things about early walleye fishing is that the fish are likely to hit all day. For most of the summer walleyes hit pretty well early in the morning and in the evening, taking the middle of the day off. They tend to hit better on gloomy and rainy days than on clear, sunny days. During the post-spawn bite, however, they may continue to hit all day trying to recover some weight and fat after the rigors of spawning, and regardless of the weather.

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The shallows definitely will hold more fish and the attraction of the shallows is concentrations of bait fish. When the minnows move in, the walleyes will be right behind them. Look for the walleyes to be in water as thin as 6-8 feet, at dawn and to remain in water less than 12-14 feet deep all day.

I recall one day that was the first outing of the year when we encountered a few keepers on a big shallow flat at dawn. The water was 10-12 feet deep on most of that flat and it was huge, probably covering 40 acres. After taking those few keepers from the part of the flat we usually fished, we tried some other spots. We fished all over that lake for hours without catching another fish. When we returned to the big flat, in mid-afternoon, we caught the rest of a three-man limit.

Early walleye fishing techniques are primarily based on casting. With the fish in water so shallow it makes little sense to troll - the boat would spook fish out of the area. For the same reason, drifting and vertical jigging is probably not going to work either. Casting, however, can get the job done easily. Crank baits can work very well under these conditions, choosing a plug that wiggles back to the boat well under the surface.

If the water is say, eight feet deep, choose a plug that digs down there perhaps six feet and one that works well at a relatively slow retrieve speed. Even when they are biting well, walleyes are lazy and unlikely to chase a fast-moving lure. Casting a jig can also work well during this period. Given shallow water, a one-eighth ounce jig will work best, tipped with a small minnow, half a crawler, a piece of plastic worm or a plastic bait tail.

Toss that lure out there, let is sink to the bottom and retrieve it with a herky-jerky motion, letting it sink after each series of little jigs. Be sure to let is sink on a tight line because that is when the fish are most likely to pick it up. If you are using a stiff rod and paying close attention, you can often feel the slight tick or tap as the walleye takes the jig. Set the hook.

Fishing a slip bobber is also productive early in the season. You can just drift across those shallow flats, letting the bobber drift along, well away from the boat and to the side of the path of the boat. For bait, you might use a crawler, a leech or a small minnow. Generally, the bobber stop should be set so that the bait is presented perhaps a foot off the bottom. If you catch a fish, by whatever means, put out a marker or anchor the boat and fish the area thoroughly - the area is apt to give up additional fish. If it doesn't, at least note the character of the bottom and the depth and look for other areas with the same characteristics.

Checking any flats near creeks makes some sense. On occasion, the fish will remain in spawning areas after their reproductive tasks are complete. The combination of a big uniformly shallow flat and a creek mouth could be especially productive.

However you decide to fish, the walleyes should be cooperative and we can enjoy some real fishing again. We will also look forward to some of those great walleye meals.